Top doctor joins Team Verrico

You may have seen on the website this week that we made a massive stride in terms of credibility this week.

Team Verrico is absolutely delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Malcolm Reed as Chief Medical Advisor to the charity.

Professor Reed is one of the two professors involved in treating Anna – he is an absolute gentleman and became a friend of Anna’s throughout her illness. He was absolutely gutted when the cancer took hold again after her mastectomy. The night that he called us to tell us that the CT scan showed the cancer had returned and was rampaging through Anna’s body will haunt me for the rest of my life. We held each other in shock and horror through the witching hours, terrified that our 17 year marriage was going to be terminated in the worst possible way without anything that we could do. When we saw Prof Reed face to face the following morning, Anna and I were both determined that whatever the future held, he had to continue to help us fight these illnesses that deprive families of parents.

And Malcolm’s pedigree is second to none. He currently holds the position of Head of Department of Oncology at the University of Sheffield as well as the post of Honorary Consultant Surgeon for the Teaching Hospital Trust. Soon, he will take the position of Dean of the Medical School at the University of Brighton. Professor Reed has achieved over 200 publications predominantly relating to cancer and its treatment and further is the only surgeon on National Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer Screening (a national committee which advises government on policy related to breast cancer screening).

Further details of Professor Reed’s career to date, can be viewed at https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/oncology/staffprofiles/reed.

As a leader in his field, the Team Verrico trustees will be asking for Professor Reed’s opinion before committing any of the charity’s funds to support research, with Professor Reed being able to offer expert advice as to the likely efficacy of the proposed project(s). We hope that this expert guidance will help the charity ensure that any money spent is used in the best way possible.

Professor Reed was recently interviewed for our awareness films that were showcased at the Charity Launch Ball 2014. Having worked closely with the Verrico family and then the charity for over a year, Professor Reed is well versed with the spirit and aims of Team Verrico: “I was immediately struck by the sheer force of nature that was Anna and Paul Verrico and soon realised what remarkable individuals and team they were. I am delighted that the strength of Anna’s personality lives on and is helping Paul and the entire team in their efforts to support research efforts into this type of breast cancer to help understand the disease and find new treatments to try and prevent other families from suffering the same experience. Anna was an inspiration to all those who knew and met her and that inspiration is driving the efforts of Team Verrico today.”

So, all in all a coup. I constantly remind myself that had Anna survived, Team Verrico would still exist. It is her vision that inspires me to push things forward. We are therefore honoured to have this level of expert support to help the charity further its objective in the very best ways possible. The fact that Professor Reed is relatively local to the Isle and has treated other Isle women for breast cancer again creates a bond which increases our credibility and makes it more likely that we will receive corporate support.